Bag for use with night depositories



June 28, 1960 N; J. KRUG BAG FOR USE WITH NIGHT DEPOSITORIES Filed Jan. 31, 1957 2 ml, 1 5w United States Patent 9 (a BAG FOR USE WITH NIGHT DEPOSITORIES Newton J. Krug', Cincinnati, Ohio, assignorto The Mosler gafekCompany, Hamilton, Ohio, a corporation of New or n Filed Jan. 31, 1957, Ser. No. 637,446

1 Claim. 01. 70-68) I This invention relates to flexiblecontainers, or bags, and is particularly directed to a canister type bag adapted to be used in conjunction with night depositories.

Many business establishments which close after bank-f ing hours, or remain open on weekends and holidays when no banking facilities are open, utilize a night depository for the temporary storage of cash, checks, and the like until the next business'day when the valuables are removed from the depository and deposited in a regular checking account.

More particularly, it is customary for the proprietor or one ofv his employees to place the days receipts in a bag which is locked and then taken to a bank where it is placed in a night depository from which it drops into a temporary storage vault. At some later time, the proprietor, or personme'sponsible for handling the withdraws the funds from the bag, and deposits them in a conventional manner.

One object of the present invention is 'to provide a, canister type bag of generally cylindrical shape which is adapted to be handled in a night depository without becoming wedged, or otherwise jamming the operating mechanism. This feature of the present bag is of great importance since in recent years, night depositories have been made increasingly complex in order to improve their security and minimize the possibility that a bag can be surreptitiously removed by various fishing and trapping techniques which have been developed.

By way of example, one such depository is shown in my co-pending application for Night Depository, Serial No. 642,840, now Patent No. 2,901,165, issued August 25, 1959. This depository includes a pivotally mounted hopper, an inner rotatable member, and an ejector plate which are movable relative to one another and are each adapted to engage the bag after it has been placed in the depository and while it is being shifted from the depository opening to a chute leading to the storage vault. In addition to these elements, the depository includes a plurality of serrated fingers disposed in the path of travel of the deposit bag. The present bag, of generally cylindrical configuration, cannot be stuffed out of shape and has no projecting corners or the like which might, in the normal operation of the depository, tend to wedge between relatively moving parts or to become caught on the serrated fingers or similar elements.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a deposit bag which inhibits tampering by messengers or other unauthorized persons. More particularly, it is a concept of the present invention to provide a bag having a closure which will readily show if the bag has been opened in any manner except by operation of the lock provided.

As explained in detail below, a bag constructed in accordance with the present invention includes a longitudinally extending slide fastener which is adapted to close the access opening in the bag. The slidable operating element of this fastener is provided with a locking Patented June 28,1960

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flap having a circular opening for receiving the cylinder,

wall of the bag at the end of the slide fastener so that:

when the cylindrical locking piece is inserted in the sleeve, the zipper operator is held in place and cannot,

money, obtains the bag from the temporary storage vault, Y

- tor.

be shifted to open the zipper until the lock is released.

In the past, it has been possible to gain limited access to a container having a locked zipper'by bunching the zipper material and forcing it beneath the stationary fastener operator. The small opening made in this manner is of sufficient size to permit bills and the like to be fished from the bag. Thereafter, the sides of the fastener material are pulled slightly in the opposite direction leaving no visible trace that the bag has been entered. The present bag is constructed to eliminate the possibility of breaking into the bag in this manner. More particularly, the present invention contemplates the provision of rigid stays or the like mounted in the bag and extending along opposite sides of the slide fastener adjacent to the closed position-of the fastener operator. These rigid stays prevent the fastener material from being bunched, or shifted past the stationary operator, so that the operator must be shifted to open thebag.

Another method previously employed to obtain access to a locked zipper bag involved spreading the tangs conventionally provided on the locking flap for joining the flap to the fastener operator. After these tangs were spread, the fastener operator was shifted to open the fastener and provide access to the bag. Later, the tangs were reinserted in the fastener operator and bent together, again no visible trace remained that the bag had been tampered with.

The present invention contemplates the prevention ofnently joined to the locking flap and passes through a.

loop, or tang, formed in the fastener operator; so that the wire must be cut in order to free the fastener opera- Since a cut wire can readily be spotted, it is easy todetennine if a bag has been tampered with in this manner.

These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent from -a consideration of the Figure 1 is a perspective view of a deposit bag constructed in accordance with the present invention showing the slide fastener in a locked position;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a deposit bag with the slide fastener in an open position;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a bag 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a body 11 of generally cylindrical configuration; the body is formed of a flexible durable material, such as canvas or the like. In the preferred embodiment the bag body includes a side wall 12 formed of a single length of material. The abutting ends of the strip are stitched together for a short distance as at 13 and are stitched to the sides of a conventional slide fastener 14 as at 15.

In addition to side wall 12, the bag includes two end Walls 16 of circular configuration. As best shown in Figure 4, the peripheral portion of each of the two end walls is folded inwardly and is stitched to the adjacent overfolded portion of the side wall and to a circular reinforcing strip 17 formed of a suitable heavy fabric.

The bag also includes a cylinder type lock 20 comprising a cylindrical sleeve member 21 mounted in the bag body adjacent to one end of the slide fastener, and a cylinder, or plug member adapted to be inserted in the cylinder and locked in place. As best shown in Figure 3, sleeve 21 projects outwardly through a circular opening 22 formed in the side wall 12 of the bag. The outer wall of the cylinder tightly engages grommets 23, 24 re spectively fitted in the periphery of the opening in the cloth material and corresponding opening in reinforcing member 25.

Reinforcing member 25 is preferably formed of a relatively rigid material, such as leather, thick plastic, sheet, or the like and is of generally rectangular configuration. This reinforcing member is secured to the bag body in any suitable manner, such as by means of a plurality of rivets 26. The inner end of sleeve 21 is formed with an integral collar 27. The sleeve carries a spacer member 28 preferably formed of leather or the like and fitted with a grommet 30, grommet 30 being press-fitted over the sleeve into engagement with collar 27.

Cylinder 31 is either permanently secured in any suitable manner to a locking tab 32; or alternatively cylinder member 31 is removably inserted within a circular opening in the tab. In either case, when the cylinder is inserted into the sleeve and locked, locking tab 32 is secured in place and cannot be shifted until the cylinder is again withdrawn from the sleeve.

The specific details of lock 20 constitute no part of the present'invention and it is not considered necessary to describe this lock in detail here. In general however, when cylinder 31 is inserted within sleeve 21 and a key inserted in keyhole 33 is rotated, a plate 34 eccentrically mounted on the lower end 35 of cylinder 31 is rotated so as to project outwardly beyond the cylinder wall into engagement with a locking groove 36 formed in the side wall of the sleeve. The interengagement of plate 34 and groove 36 prevents the cylinder from being withdrawn from the sleeve until the key is turned in the opposite direction.

Locking tab 32 is joined to slide fastener operator 37 by means of a length of hardened wire 38. This wire passes through a loop 40 formed in the fastener operator and is permanently joined to the underside of tab 32 as by means of a rivet 41.

As best shown in Figure l, rigid reinforcing member 25 extends along each side of the slide fastener a sufiicient distance so that a length of rigid material 42 is disposed on each side of the fastener operator 37 when the fastener operator is locked in its closed position. The canvas bag material is joined to rigid arms 42 in this area by means of rivets 26a. The function of these rigid extensions is to prevent the fastener from being bunched and pushed through the stationary operator to provide limited access to the bag.

By securing the reinforcing member to the bag adjacent to the lock sleeve, the reinforcing member also functions to maintain the sleeve in an outwardly extending direction whereby the lock plug can readily be inserted in the sleeve.

When the bag is filled, it inherently assumes the canister shape shown in Figures 1 and 2. Consequently, the bag cannot become wedged between moving depository parts and the bag does not have any projecting corners which might become caught on fingers or similar elements in a depository.

From the foregoing disclosure of the general principles of the present invention and the above description of a preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the various modifications to which the present invention is susceptible. For example, if desired, the arms of reinforcing member can be eliminated and replaced by rods or similar rigid stays stitched in place along the sides of the slide fastener.

Having described my invention I claim:

A slide fastener for closing a slit opening in a flexible wall, said slide fastener including a fastener operator, locking means for securing said fastener operator at one end of the slide fastener, said locking means comprising a cylindrical type lock having a hollow cylindrical sleeve member extending outwardly through an opening in the flexible wall spaced from one end of the slide fastener, a locking flap joined to the fastener operator and having an opening therethrough, a lock cylinder extending through said opening in the locking flap, said lock cylinder being secured to said flap and being adapted to be received within said sleeve for securing said locking flap in position adjacent to said sleeve, a relatively rigid sheet of material mounted on the inner surface of the fiexible wall, said sheet including a first portion surrounding said sleeve, and two spaced arms extending from said first portion along opposite sides of said slide fastener adjacent to the fastener operator in its closed position, and means securing the first portion and arms of said sheet of material to said flexible wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNIT ED STATES PATENTS 295,987 Crouch Apr. 1, 1884 1,318,652 Farkas Oct. 14, 1919 1,557,382 Sundbaek Oct. 13, 1925 1,680,652 Walinsky Aug. 14, 1928 1,876,338 Norton Sept. 6, 1932 1,893,420 Lacher Jan. 3, 1933 1,950,414 Rifkin Mar. 13, 1934 1,950,415 Rifkin Mar. 13, 1934 1,982,813 Jacobi Dec. 4, 1934 2,264,084 Loos Nov. 25, 1941 2,504,124 Hicks Apr. 18, 1950 

